CND Shellac Pedicure: A 24-day review!

Did you know that only 15% of women in the United States go to a salon to get their nails done? Whether they are doing it at home, or just skipping it and viewing it as an unaffordable luxury in a sluggish economy, I don’t know. But one thing that CND has found? Shellac is bringing women back into the salon.

While at Cosmoprof (July 31-Aug. 2, Las Vegas), I had the opportunity to visit the CND booth and receive a Shellac pedicure!

I love the idea of a Shellac manicure, but as you may know I change my nail color practically everyday, and being a blogger, I frequently change my nail polish, and swatch, for the sake of photos and a post – but my toes, now my toes could definitely use something that lasts longer than a couple days!

The tech who did my pedicure, Kristina, was not only a pro nail tech with a salon in Colorado, but she also spends time educating folks – like me! – about Shellac and CND. She said that she has seen first-hand how Shellac is bringing women back to the salon, estimating about 90% of her clients ask for this longer-lasting option!

My Experience

After shaping my toenails, Kristina started out my pedicure by prepping my nails with ScrubFresh, which takes away bacteria:

She applied the Shellac UV Base Coat, and cured each foot for 10 seconds in the CND UV Lamp.

Shaking the bottles before applying (“thin to win,” she said – thin coats of Shellac are key!), Kristina applied two coats of Purple Purple, curing each foot two minutes after each coat. Then, she applied one coat of Zillionaire and cured that, as well.

Kristina applied the Shellac UV Top Coat and cured each foot for two minutes. She took alcohol and went over the surface of the nails immediately after the polish was cured to remove the tacky layer – I got freaked out when I saw her doing this but I realized that the polish was set, and we had a laugh.

She then added CND Solar Oil to my toenails, to help moisturize them:

My toenails are typically very dehydrated, prone to splitting – especially the big toes, right in the middle of the nail – breaking and flaking. But, Solar Oil is not just something she did for me. Solar Oil is recommended for everyone who gets a Shellac mani or pedi, to help keep nails and cuticles moisturized. The small baggie I left the booth with included a tiny bottle of Solar Oil.

Kristina said the microscopic “tunnels” in the Shellac mani/pedi allow for Solar Oil to penetrate into the nail, in addition to providing a removal process with no nail damage.

How about some pics of the finished product?!

My toes look toe-tally amazing!

New Shellac Power Polish Colors Coming in September!

As I mentioned, my Shellac pedicure was done with two of the six new colors CND will release this September – Purple Purple (an iridescent azure violet) and Zillionaire (sparkling, almost holographic flake glitter layering effect!). Here’s the deets on the new polishes!

From Left to Right: Moonlight & Roses (opalescent pink), Studio White (semi-sheer soft white) and Zillionaire. And because I love it, a close-up shot of Zillionaire:

Swatches:

From Left to Right: Asphalt (concrete grey), Hotski to Tchotchke (vibrant teal) and Purple Purple.

Swatches:

This means Shellac will now come in 30 colors, many of which can be layered to create different, new colors. For example, Krystal of Polish Galore showed off her Shellac mani in Rock Royalty, with a layer of Iced Coral and Zillionaire on top! The other bloggers were all oooohing and aaaaaahing when we saw it!

Many, Many Days Later

I didn’t want to leave off without showing you how well my Shellac pedicure fared. Here are some pics of my pedi at 14 days:

It still looks AMAZING! On the big-toe shot above, you can see, if you look close, a tiny chip. That’s because I accidentally scrapped my toe against concrete. It’s pretty great that I only lost that little bit of polish when I did that.

Around the 21-day mark, I noticed that unfortunately, my big toes were starting to split down the middle, underneath the Shellac. Yes, that means that while my toes were breaking, the Shellac was STILL holding up!

I decided to clip my toes down, to get rid of the splitting. Next up are pictures from Day 24!

Day 24:

As you can see, I’ve had a lot of regrowth, and it’s time to take off my Shellac pedi. But, the shine was still powerful, and cutting my nails down didn’t seem to weaken the Shellac.

So far, my experience with this product has been awesome. I am writing this on Sunday, August 28th, and I still have my Shellac pedi on. It’s still shiny. I will be removing it, and I will let you know how removal goes.

Have you experienced a Shellac manicure or pedicure yet? What do you think about Shellac on the toes vs. fingers? Share your thoughts on Shellac in the comments below!

Disclaimer: The CND Shellac pedicure I received was a service provided to me for review by the PR Firm/Manufacturer. Please visit my Disclosure tab for more information on how BeautyJudy.com keeps it real!

I feel stupid for asking, but what’s the machine with “021” on the LCD?

Beautiful color by the way! Maybe I need to do this, my toes always chip because I live in flip-flops and open-toe sandals all summer long.

Ellen

The 021 is really 120 upside-down . 120 seconds is the time it takes to cure a layer of Shellac. The Shellac UV light has an adjustable digital timer on the back.

Lucy

Very nice manicure. I’ve never had a pedicure. I don’t know if I could stand someone touching my feet! Love the color and the shimmer in it. You should see a podiatrist about your toenail splitting. You could have some kind of fungus or infection. Not good having a nail split like that. The manicure really lasts. I’m concerned about the UV light being used. I’ve read that doctors were concerned about the UV rays and the cancer it can cause.

http://beautyjudy.com BeautyJudy

The only problem I have with pedicures is that my feet are ticklish! So I like it until they try to pumice the sensitive parts of my feet

I think the splitting in the middle of the nail has more to do with me banging my big toe on the floor or into things like chairs and coffee tables than it does with fungus! They don’t look gross, just dry!

As far as UV rays – according to literature from CND, “UV nail lamps have less UV-B light (cause of sunburn and skin cancer) output than natural sunlight. The amount of UV-B light in 10-min exposure to nail lamps is ‘the equivalent to an extra 30 seconds in sunlight each day of the two weeks between nail salon appointments.’ UV-A exposure is equivalent to spending ‘an extra 1.5 to 2.7 minutes in sunlight each day beween salon visits.”

http://beautyjudy.com BeautyJudy

Lucy – I will post more on the UV lamp issue in my removal post. Stay tuned!

Ellen

No one can say for certain how much UV exposure will be harmful to a particular person. It is also within reason, that given the facts about the use of UV lights in the nail industry, that the effects of using UV lamps on nails is negligible. Exposure is similar to being outside in sunlight for very short intervals of time.

DesertNails8

That sure is a pretty color. I’m with you on wanting to be able to change my fingernail polish more frequently. For toenails, it makes some sense. My pedicures really do last a month or more and still look good and I just file down as needed. My feet are usually in shoes. I suppose the Shellac is really for someone else. I am curious as to what’s involved in the removal. Oh and I’m curious as to how this lasts when in the swimming pool a lot.

http://beautyjudy.com BeautyJudy

I have never had a pedicure last a month on me! I always manage to chip it, especially if I am in and out of a pool!

I will be posting about my removal of Shellac – it was actually easy

Also, I am looking forward to getting another Shellac pedi prior to going on vacation, where I will spend lots of time in the pool. I will let you know how it goes!

http://www.jellynat.blogspot.com nathalie

I’ve never had my nails done in a salon. Applying nail polish is a pretty relaxing moment, so I keep that pleasure to myself. =)

The Shellac idea is nice and it live up to its promises it seems but a huge gap of growth is equally ankward to chipped nails to me, ah ah. As my nails grow fast on both hands and feet, the product is probably not for me. All those things said I love the color you had!

http://beautyjudy.com BeautyJudy

I agree – I love applying polish as it’s a bit of me time!

Yes, the regrowth is awkward. Not as noticeable when I am wearing peep-toe shoes, or if you are glancing at my feet. However, I took Shellac off my toes last night, and I will have a post up about removal soon!

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